DALLAS (AP)—Three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols agreed Thursday to a $254 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels, leaving the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals after more than a decade for a new baseball life in southern California.

Pujols’ contract, which is subject to a physical, is the second-highest in baseball history and only the third to break the $200 million barrier, followingAlex Rodriguez’s $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas before the 2001 season and A-Rod’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees before the 2008 season.

“This is a monumental day for Angel fans and I could not be more excited,”Angels owner Arte Moreno said.

In addition to the Pujols signing, the Angels agreed to a five-year contract with left-hander C.J. Wilson, a deal worth $77.5 million that raised their spending for the day to $331.5 million.

People familiar with the deals told The Associated Press the terms of each contract, speaking on condition of anonymity because those details were not made public.

Pujols had spent all 11 of his major league seasons with the Cardinals, hitting .338 with 445 home runs and 1,329 RBIs to become a franchise icon second only to Stan Musial. He is fourth in career slugging percentage at .617, trailing only Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (.690), Ted Williams (.634) and Lou Gehrig (.632).

Pujols’ numbers in nearly every major offensive category are on a three-year decline. He had his poorest season in 2011 and at 31 is likely to spend the majority of his career with the Angels at designated hitter rather than first base.

“We understand that players will go through peaks and valleys of sort,”new Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto said. “Albert has spent many years operating at peak, and if we want to call a decline going from superhuman to just great, I don’t think we’ve seen the last great days of Albert Pujols, obviously, or we wouldn’t be sitting here today.”

Some have speculated he is older than his listed age. “Albert Pujols’ age to me is not a concern,” Dipoto said. “I’m not a scientist. I can’t where he is, but I can tell you he hits like he’s 27.”

St. Louis also offered the slugger a 10-year deal, but he chose to leave the Gateway City for the freeway life.

“We are disappointed,” Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said. “I would like our fans to know that we tried our best to make Albert a lifetime Cardinal but unfortunately we were unable to make it happen.”

The Angels, who finished 10 games behind pennant-winning Texas in the AL West, made the move as the financially troubled Los Angeles Dodgers are in the process of being sold by Frank McCourt in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, a deal that could give the region’s NL team a new, wealthy owner. The Dodgers could aggressively bid for talent a year from now, giving them a boost in the regional competition for fans’ attention.

“Winning breeds interest, and we are setting ourselves up to start next season with an opportunity to get good,” Dipoto said.

Pujols led the Cardinals to a seven-game World Series victory over Wilson’s Rangers, his second title with the team in the last six seasons. He also had been pursued by the Miami Marlins, but they dropped out Wednesday after agreeing to a deal with left-hander Mark Buehrle that raised their free agent-spending to $191 million for three players following deals with closer Heath Bell and shortstop Jose Reyes. The Angels and Marlins committed $522.5 million to just five free agents.

“I think baseball needs to have a steroid-testing policy for owners,” said Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economics professor at Smith College.

Pujols agreed in 2004 to a $100 million, seven-year contract, a deal that—with a 2011 option and bonuses—wound up paying him $112.55 million over eight years.

“He left a pretty good impact over there. I don’t think fans will soon forget what his contributions were,” said former Cardinals manager and star Joe Torre, now an executive with Major League Baseball. “I still think the St. Louis fans are going to be more appreciative than angry.”

Pujols’ agent, Dan Lozano, split off last year from the Beverly Hills Sports Council to form his own agency, and Pujols’ negotiations seemed like an attempt to surpass A-Rod’s landmark $252 million contract, agreed to at the same hotel 11 years earlier.

Pujols rejected a multiyear extension last offseason that was said to include a small percentage of the franchise. He cut off negotiations on the first day of spring training.

“This is a footprint contract, because it follows the footprint laid by other great players,” said agent Scott Boras, who negotiated Rodriguez’s deals.“Putting a hitter like Albert Pujols in a big market, where he can be a DH, I think it’s a win-win for everybody.”

Pujols hit 37 home runs last season, running his 30-homer streak to 11 years, and batted .299 with 99 RBIs. He led the Cardinals’ improbable late-season surge and became only the third player to hit three home runs in a World Series game following Ruth and Reggie Jackson.
Reaction around the major leagues was swift.

“For 2012, two wilds cards and no Albert Pujols. I’m happy,” said Sandy Alderson, general manager of the Cardinals’ NL rival New York Mets.

Said former Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty, now GM of the NL Central rivalCincinnati Reds: “I’m a little surprised, I guess. I really thought he’d go back to St. Louis. It’s certainly good for our division.”